A small batch of Croissants!

Croissant recipe from scratch that is so easy to follow! The steps are broken up over 3 days, so you can start on a Friday and have fresh, homemade croissants on Sunday. Small batch croissant recipe makes 4 croissants.

I just finished reading ‘French Women Don’t Get Fat.’ I know, I’m 6 years behind the times. Please tell me I’m not the only one that read books WAY after they are popular!

I just finished The Hunger Games recently, also way behind the times.

Anyway, I have no idea why I read this book. I’m not looking to shed any weight.

Maybe I was looking for an excuse to drink wine at lunch AND dinner. Maybe I’m going through a Francophile phase? And then I must thank another friend for being such an enabler. She convinced me at brunch this weekend that there are, in fact, pills big enough to make someone like me conquer their fear of flying over the ocean to visit France.

My point being that I read a book about how to manage your weight, and all I came away with was a recipe for croissants from a real French woman.

These are not diet croissants, even though they come from a diet book. They are croissants for the woman who’s been good all week and looks forward to her weekly reward of a croissant on Sunday morning.

I’m going to take a shot in the dark here and say that if you’ve been good all week, you probably can’t be trusted around a dozen croissants. Is that just me?

I just came off another sugar detox, and I went straight to my favorite chocolate shop. I spent so much time in there that my hair smelled like chocolate-dipped sea salt caramels the rest of the day (success!). So, this recipe makes 4 good-sized croissants.

You can absolutely stretch it to 6 croissants, though they will be smaller.

I made a lot of changes to Mireille’s recipe, mainly to eliminate any wishy-washy instructions (there were lots). I need clear, concise instructions for baking; a French chef, I am not.

I also changed some things that were blantantly wrong with her recipe: do not put flour in the butter layer. I don’t know where she came up with that, but my sweet cousin Stephanie who is a pastry chef said that was absolutely not the way to make croissants. When I put flour in the butter layer, I ended up with crescent rolls, not croissants. Still delicious, but not my goal.

My cousin Stephanie calmed my fears about croissants by boiling it down to this: it’s a yeast dough with a butter layer that is folded four times. When you think of it that way, it suddenly becomes more approachable.

Croissant Recipe–a few modifications allowed:

Mireille divided her recipe into the course of 3 days for ease. This way, you can start Friday night and eat croissants Sunday morning.

If you want to alter the recipe and replace all overnight instructions with 4 hours and try to make these in one day, go ahead. I haven’t tried that, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. But as always, if you have any questions, just leave me a comment, and I will get back to you. I will post answers to questions on the site so that everyone can see them.

Homemade croissant recipe–modifications not allowed:

-unbleached flour. Please use unbleached flour, as that is what Mireille used, and that is how I developed this recipe.
-kosher salt. I normally use sea salt for baking, but Mireille used kosher. I copied her exactly because I listen to what a French woman says about baking.

Once you’ve mastered this small batch of croissants, be sure to make my other version: CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS!:

Yield: 4

Homemade Croissants

Prep Time1 days

Cook Time15 minutes

Total Time1 days15 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon 2% milk, divided use

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 cup + 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, divided use

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons high-quality butter (European style)

1 large egg yolk, beaten

Instructions

DAY ONE:

Heat 1/2 cup of the milk to 115-degrees Fahrenheit, and stir in the yeast until dissolved. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the flour. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, remaining 1 cup + 1 tablespoon of the flour, and salt. Add the foamy yeast to the mixture, and knead until smooth with a wooden spoon, about 3-4 minutes. The dough will be sticky, but it will stick to itself and not the edges of the bowl. Refrigerate overnight.

DAY TWO:

Let the butter come to room temperature.

Remove the dough from the fridge (it should have risen some and seem bubbly). Flour a surface, and roll the dough out into a 6 x 10" rectangle. The 6" side should be closest to you.

Spread all 6 tablespoons of the butter evenly over the rectangle, but leave about 1cm of a border on all edges.

Fold the dough like a letter: fold the top one-third to the middle. Fold the bottom third up to the middle also. Roll the dough back into a 6 x 10" rectangle. Cover and refrigerate the rectangle of dough for 2 hours.

Remove the dough from the fridge after 2 hours, fold it like a letter again, and then roll back out to a 6 x 10" rectangle. Place it back in the fridge for 2 hours.

Repeat this two more times for a total of 4 folds, refrigerating for 2 hours between each fold and roll. After the last roll out, refrigerate the dough overnight.

DAY THREE:

Remove the dough from the fridge, and roll it on a floured surface into a 10 x 10" square.

Using a knife, cut the rectangle into 4 evenly-sized triangles. Roll the rectangles up, starting at the wide end. Roll towards the skinny tip.

Place the rolls on a baking sheet lined with a nonstick mat, and brush with the remaining tablespoon of milk.

Let the rolls rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. If your kitchen is cold, let them rise for longer--they really need to double in size before baking.

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees.

Brush the egg yolk generously over the croissants. Be sure to get it in the nooks and crannies of the dough.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until very golden brown. Start checking on the rolls at 10 minutes, and shield them with foil if the edges threaten to burn. You just spent 3 days making rolls, keep an eye on them in the oven so they don't burn!

Let cool 20 minutes, and serve.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size:

About me

Christina Lane is the author of 3 cookbooks all about cooking and baking for two. She has scaled down hundreds of recipes into smaller servings so you can enjoy your favorite dishes without the leftovers! Valentine's Day is her favorite holiday.

91 Comments

I haven’t even HEARD of that book. So, if you’re behind the times, then I live under a rock.
But, I will glady eat these croissants from my rock home, and they look SO perfect. Your small batch skills amaze me. Pinned!

I cannot be trusted around any number of croissants, but this sounds like just the right amount to hoard from my husband and slowly devour over a glorious holiday weekend. I hope you have a very happy Christmas!

A testament to my living under a rock-edness: I had never heard of the book French Women Don’t Get Fat until reading this post. And seriously, I want to read it now, because WHY DON’T FRENCH WOMEN GET FAT?!!!! I’ve always wondered. And Italian women. Gah…so gorgeous. Anyhoo, I love buttery scones, so I’ll do what alls us ‘muricans do and save the book for after Jan 1 when all the resolutions about fat are made ;)

I’ve been VERY excited for these since I saw them over the weekend!! Croissants are my ultimate breakfast indulgence, and sometimes I even dunk the warm, flaky croissant into butter, as if it needs MORE. These look perfect in every way. Crispy. Soft. Tender. And totally gorgeous.

I still have that book on my reading list from when a friend suggested it during college. Still haven’t read it yet. I love how you scaled down these croissants because I could easily eat the whole dozen if I made more. Since it’s just little ol’ me in the house, I need all the help I can get!

I haven’t read that book, but still definitely want to. I guess more for interest sake than to lose weight, like you. BUT!! I’m so happy you have a recipe for real French croissants! If you’re ever in Montreal and feel like practicing your Francais I’d be happy to show you around :) xx

I’ve tried twice but my yeast didn’t bubble. I wonder if it’s the 1tbs of flour? I stirred in the yeast (which doesn’t expire till 2016) then the flour but nothing happened. Am I missing a step? Standard proofing calls for sugar to be dissolved in milk or water. Could this be the issue? I’m going to try that next time and see if it makes a difference. I can’t wait to try these! I was just talking about wanting to make croissants this past weekend! :)

First, good on you for checking your yeast before moving forward with the recipe!
Although your yeast isn’t expired, something could have happened to it before you bought it to kill it. Extreme heat in a delivery truck? It sounds dead. I’m assuming your water temperature is exact, right?
The flour has all the ‘sugar’ the yeast needs to bloom, but if you want to stir in a pinch of sugar to be sure, go ahead. Let the yeast sit for 5 minutes in a WARM place to bloom. I place mine next to the stove, and I won’t continue with a recipe until it blooms properly. Best of luck bringing your little yeasty guys to life! :)

I’m at a loss. I’m watching the thermometer closely so I’m definitely within the temperature range. I’m stirring in the yeast as directed then storing in the flour but nothing happens after five, ten, mins later. I am using Fleischmann’as active dry. Is that correct? The worst part is I am craving croissants more than ever! I will not give up!

I’m just like you. I am usually the last person to read a popular book, like years late. Also, I need to make these. Croissants are my weakness. I need to figure it out after I do a detox which won’t be pretty.

I always put a little flour in the butter because it makes it more pliable and easier to work with so you don’t end up with clumps of butter or worse, softened butter. It works for me but I am definitely interested to see the comparison in what it is like without it.

My Mom made croissants one time and they were fantastic. She never made them again – they took all day and were too much work! I plan on making these and loving the process. I can’t wait to start them after work today!

Croissants are on my ‘things to conquer’ list, which also means they’re on my ‘things I’m probably avoiding list’. I think that ‘yeasted dough, butter, fold four times’ (so many quotations) is going to become my new mantra though, because it makes them MUCH less scary! Thanks for the inspiration and Merry Christmas, Christina!

I just did the first fold and set it in the fridge like the recipe states. Call me paranoid,but I just wanted to clarify: does it matter how the dough is in the bowl when I stick in the fridge (should it be in the rectangular form like when I rolled it out or should it be rolled back into a ball or does it even matter)? To my defense, I finally got over my fear of working with cold butter and now I don’t wanna mess these guys up because they were in the wrong shape (which would be just my luck; ha)

beautiful, just.beautiful. i ran out of flour but i will make this the moment i get my hands on it, and (in the off chance that I mess it up) it wouldn’t be so bad because it’s such a small batch. thank you so so much :)

Please clairify the part about the butter for me (I’m a little dense). The butter is spread on the dough the first time it is folded? The next three times the dough is folded do I spread butter on it? Thanks

I will forever be behind on the times. I’m just now reading Harry Potter. I just don’t know how to be trendy. Girl, these croissants are gorgeous. You better believe that if I’m good all week, I’m going to treat myself to all four croissants.

Apparently I’m even more behind the times than you, because I’ve never even heard of that book. (I’m also completely lost as to why a book about not getting fat would include a recipe for croissants, but hey – they look amazing regardless!) Small batch of buttery croissants? YES! :)

Thanks, Sarah! I liked it. I read her other books, too. I agree with her mindset, but her work can be repetitive. But perhaps we need to be told that we won’t weigh less by eating more over and over again? :)

My mum was born in London and raised in the south of France. She was never overweight, used real butter, heav cream on her berries, and ate dessert daily. Never ate seconds, never snacked. Gee, maybe I should have learned then, lol.

Fortunate to study art history in Paris for a summer in my 30’s, I saw how they ate, savored, and enjoyed good quality, decent portions, full meals, no snacks, no seconds.Most plat du jours were meat (often roast chicken), salad, and dessert (goblet of fresh berries.) It was rare to see anyone walking while eating or drinking. Occasionally they would stop at a sandwich stand or crepe stand and eat while there, but it’s so different. Every day I’d buy one treat: a croque monsieur for dinner, or a small exquisite pastry, and lost 10# in a month which I needed to do anyway.

OK, according to one report, they DO walk 10km a day even with the Metro, but it’s that growing up with common sense habits that keep them from obsessing over super-size fries, carting around S***bucks, and buying the gallon of popcorn.

Now in my advancing age (O M G, did I just say that?) I’ve picked up many of those habits, am at my lowest weight ever, and love wee desserts. Love your recipes: fav is the gooey pumpkin bars to which I add ground pecans to the crust, Today I made the dough for the double chocolate chunk cookies. If you get back to northern CA for a book signing, I’ll be there.

Christina, would you please clarify your final rolling out of the dough to make the croissants themselves. In the directions you say to roll the dough into a 10 by 10 square and then you say to cut the rectangle into four triangles. I know this is a little thing, but I have had trouble in the past with croissants and I want to make sure I am doing everything the way I should.

I love you blog! It is only my husband and me now and your blog allows me to still enjoy the treats I used to make for the whole family without having to eat an entire large batch myself.

Hi Suzie,
Sorry for the confusion. A 10×10 is, in fact, a square not a rectangle. Geometry was never my strong suit ;) Cut an ‘x’ in the square to get 4 triangles from the square. Does that make sense?

Best of luck! I hope you have success. Croissants can be finicky, but I think they’re worth it :) Thanks for the kind words, too!

I followed the instructions yet each time I had to fold the dough always stuck to my granite slab after dusting it well…. somehow managed till 4 triangle n since they stuck I had to pull n managed not so visible croissants and plain rolls… why were the so sticky,? Hope they double up before I bake(brushed with milk)

Hi J,
Thanks for writing! So, you are totally allowed to add as much flour as you need to prevent the dough from sticking. The type of flour and the humidity in your kitchen are different from mine. You can’t add too much flour. I mean, you can, but you would know it. Add as much to make the dough work-able and try again. It must have been a humid day when I developed the recipe and I didn’t call for as much flour. If you live in a drier climate, you will need more flour. It’s the nature of the beast when it comes to dough and homemade pastry. Let me know how it goes :)

Is it okay if I use salted butter or must I specifically use unsalted butter? Most recipes call for unsalted but all I have is salted so I wasn’t sure if it’d be fine to use salted and still have the same results.

Oh my, how I LOVE croissants and have no self control around them! I don’t eat a lot of bread so I guess you have to pick your poison, and mine is a fresh croissant! This is a great recipe because only making 4 will be so worth the hard work and it will really be a treat. I’ve always wanted to learn to make them so starting with a small recipe is perfect. Thank you!

The fact that you read anything beyond Facebook and cookbooks or food blogs means you’re WAY ahead of the times compared to me. :) I can’t wait to try my hand at a vegan version of these croissants, with homemade cultured butter. That makes me sound like a hippie snob (if there is such a thing), but I swear I’m not. :)

Can this recipe be doubled. Out of all the recipes I have looked at this one is by far the simplest one I found. They looked so yummy. Ivan in a forum and we are taking a virtual trip to Paris. Actually we are “in” Paris now so to speak. But, when I get home I wanted to be able to make these. Thanks for your site.

Just got back from a two-week trip to Italy where I enjoyed croissants every morning for breakfast. Sitting at my kitchen table and dreaming of those flaky croissant’s and came across your blog. So, I work full-time but want to enjoy croissants. Can I make two separate recipes bake one and freeze the other until I am ready to bake them? So in other words have them all rolled out into croissant shapes. And then individually freeze them until ready to bake)? Trying to save time and still enjoy these delicacies.

I just tried this recipe and I was surprised that the whole process isn’t as bad as I thought. The steps were clearly outlined and I was intimidated because of the time commitment but that’s the only difficult part…waiting in between each step to move on to the next one. Making the dough itself wasn’t difficult.

I had problems with yeast that I believed was dead. I had tried activating it 6 times with changes in temperature each time and making sure the yeast wasn’t expired. I just ended up using instant RapidRise yeast instead and added the milk in cold. It worked just fine. I also made a slab of butter using a Ziplock bag instead of spreading the butter but I pretty much did everything else as outlined.

Hi Christina! I was looking for a good way to procrastibake and these fit the bill. Such a fun process with tasty results! Thank you for sharing – your instructions were very clear and easy to follow :)

Hi Christina! I’m going to begin the rolling out for these croissants in a little while, so excited! I just wanted to confirm that the baking temp in the recipe is 400 F? Therefore since I’m in India and work in centigrade, this would be about 200 C for me. Just wanted to make sure so I don’t burn the croissants :) Thanks!

I have the book that you speak about, you’ve done better than me, I haven’t read it yet. I love buying and reading cook books, my problem is never getting any of the recipes made LOL…I love BREAD, can’t live with it and can’t live without it…(slight allergy to wheat), but I’m giving up eating bread…sounds stupid huh? oh well…Bread is the staff of LIFE !!

Hi Christina! I think I have worked up the courage to try these. I just have one questions. Is whole milk an option for this recipe? It’s what I regularly have in my house. If not, I will gladly go buy 2%, I just thought I would ask before going to buy a new milk. Thank you!

Where have you been all my life!? After buying a wonderful cookbook with recipes for dinners for two I found your book with recipes for desserts for two and my life is now complete. :D

I have a question about the butter in this recipe. If you spread room temperature butter over the dough and then fold and roll it out, won’t the butter get incorporated into the dough? My understanding from reading dozens of croissant recipes is that it is extremely important that this does NOT happen. I can see spreading room temperature butter over the dough and folding it and then putting it into the refrigerator to let the butter chill and then rolling it. I have to say though that the idea of spreading room temperature butter over the dough instead of measuring everything out precisely is really a stroke of genius.
Obviously you’ve made them this way and it works, but it just raised a flag in my mind about that particular step.
Having said all that, I can’t wait to try these. Making homemade croissants has been on my bucket list for a very long time but making a huge batch seemed rather formidable, but I think this small batch recipe will be a great way to induct myself into the art of croissant making.
L’Chaim

Hi Cynthia!
It’s so nice to meet you! I’m glad we’re in each other’s lives :)
You are absolutely correct–most croissants recipes keep that butter layer cold and intact. Then, as it rolls, the flakes go between the layers. The reason I was so drawn to this recipe is because it’s from a real French woman and it doesn’t require the cold butter! It sounded like a much easier way to me, right? When I tried it, I was blown away by the results. They’re a slight cross between croissant and crescent rolls as a result of this different method, but I still think they’re delicious.
If you try them, I’d love to hear how it goes :)

Christina
I made these croissants this weekend, and it was a great learning experience. Thank you so much for doing the work to reduce the recipe to a small batch. I know for a fact I would have become incredibly frustrated trying to roll out a full batch of croissant dough to 24 inches! What really surprised me was how quickly the butter starts to melt and “bleed through” the dough. Even with this small batch I had to stop halfway through each rollout and put the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes for the butter to harden before I could finish. And that’s after putting my rolling pin and pastry mat in the freezer for an hour before using them. Also, I had the same experience with the yeast as other readers – it didn’t get foamy and bubbly the way yeast does when I make bread, but when I poured the milk into the dry ingredients I could see large gas bubbles in the mix. Maybe it’s the brand of yeast? What brand did you use? Finally, I don’t think my croissants doubled in size before I put them in the oven, although they did rise to some degree. But what matters is the finished result and they rose in the oven and tasted sooooo good (husband approved) – a little more “bready” then a true croissant but definitely very crisp on the outside with some good layering on the inside. Definitely worth the effort to make them. I’m doing the chocolate ones next weekend.
Funny story, my husband is from Belgium and the first time I flew to Belgium to meet him we spent a weekend in Paris as that was another item on my bucket list. :) The first thing I saw when we came out of the train station was an American Subway sandwich shop. :D Aside from that, we really had a wonderful time and I hope we have the chance to go back again. Take that pill and hop on a plane, Christina. :)

I made your recipe and the croissants were delicious but weren’t as flaky as when I used the cold butter method. While I was rolling the dough in subsequent folds, my butter turned into nuggets/chunks spread throughout and the layers were hard to see. Is there something I could have done to cause this?

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